Government officials are looking for the person who circulated an AI-generated video of President Donald Trump kissing Elon Musk’s feet.
Newsweek has contacted the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the White House for comment via email.
Why It Matters
The AI-generated video of Trump kissing Musk’s bare toes and massaging his feet, as the words “LONG LIVE THE REAL KING” appeared in the foreground, was shown on monitors at HUD headquarters following an apparent hack at the Robert C. Weaver Federal Building in Washington, D.C., on Monday.
Getty Images
What To Know
HUD spokesperson Kasey Lovett confirmed in a statement that the department was investigating the source of the video.
“Another waste of taxpayer dollars and resources,” she said. “Appropriate action will be taken for all involved.”
Similar AI-generated videos had appeared on the internet a week before the incident, frequently mocking Trump’s relationship with Musk, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency and has attracted increased criticism as he works to cut government spending and shrink the federal workforce.
Additionally, social media strategist Devin Duke claimed that he was the creator of the original image on social media, replying to footage from the HUD with: “Glad to see my image has been put to good use,” with a link to one of his posts from 2024 that featured an identical picture.
While it is not possible to identify the creator of the images from the video alone, the clip’s resolution suggests a powerful AI tool was used in the process, potentially Musk’s own Grok 3, which was released earlier this week.
On February 17, user @Squad_sussex96 posted a similar clip on X, formerly Twitter. However, it did not have the caption seen on the video played at HUD headquarters.
Some have speculated that the video’s caption refers to the president describing himself as “the king” in a recent Truth Social post. On February 19, after intervening over New York’s vehicle congestion pricing program, Trump wrote: “CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING.”
A source within HUD told Wired that staff had to manually turn off each TV displaying the video as there was no other way to stop the feed.
What People Are Saying
The press office for Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner wrote on X following the incident: “There is nothing heroic about abusing taxpayer resources.”
What Happens Next
Government officials continue to search for the person responsible for the video’s creation and circulation.
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Update 2/25/25, 11:47 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
